


Remember

by obviouslyelementary



Series: Final Fantasy XIV [20]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Past, Past Lives, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, ambiguous WoL, ambiguous azem, cursing, gender neutral WoL, gender neutral azem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29924598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: And after thousand thousands of years awaiting for an answer to all his suffering, all his sadness and loneliness, he finally understood.
Relationships: Azem & Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: Final Fantasy XIV [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029102
Kudos: 11





	Remember

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to get this off my chest. To me Azem and Emet Selch were more than friends but in this one only that is shown. Also I love some unsure/ambiguous emet selch so yeh! Enjoy!

"If I were to give you a medal every time you fuck up, you would have your house filled with the stuff, you know that right?"

Hades stopped in his tracks, returning his mug of tea back on the table and then slowly turning around to see the shadow of his friend by the window, the city's lights illuminating their silhouette. A dark body, surrounded by a rim of light. Always so beautiful, he wandered, even when they were being rude.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?" he replied, taking his tea again and sipping on it, swiping the hair over his shoulder with a swing of his wrist. "Back so soon?"

"I have to, when you and yours are doing more damage than I ever thought possible" they replied, finally coming out of the shadows, their bright yellow eyes burning deep in his soul. He almost choked the drink but swallowed it down at the last second, closing his eyes for a moment, throat aching at the burning sensation.

He knew that look. He knew it all too well.

"If you look down on us so badly, why don't you just stay? Try to understand the reasoning behind our work? Our sacrifice?"

"What sacrifice?! I see the twelve of you alive, standing, walking around the streets as if nothing is wrong, as if we are not destroying our own existence" they responded, walking towards Hades with heavy steps. "I was called from all the way around the world by Hythlodaeus while trying to fix up _your_ mess, only to find out that we now stand at what? Twenty five percent of our population?! Another summoning?! Are you serious?!"

"Ga-"

"Don't you dare" they shut him off, eyes narrowing, almost burning. "You lost that right when you agreed on getting me out of the convocation."

"You were the one that defected, _Azem_ " he responded instead, bitter taste on his tongue. "Besides, I cannot call you that anymore, you have lost your seat."

"As if I ever cared about my seat. It feels like it is all you lot care about, your seats, your mission, your wants, your needs! You have no idea how much devastation the summoning of Zodiark has brought to the rest of the world! To the star itself! I may have lost my seat but my connection to the star is _permanent_ and no one can change that! It _weeps,_ Selch! It _cries_ and _begs_ for mercy, to be allowed to _die in peace_ , while you and yours keep pushing it, sacrificing the very essence of our people for the sake of a dead sun! Can't you see you are only delaying the inevitable?! That you are hurting that which you say you love?!"

"Why did you come here? Why did you come to me?" he asked, tired, drinking down his tea and turning away from them. Azem clearly did not want to see... and yet their words weighted hard in his chest.

"Because they will _listen_ to you! Because they will _see reason_!" they begged, moving closer to him, and Hades had to close his eyes as a pair of familiar hands reached for his shoulders. "You are my friend, you are their friend, they listen to you, they will rethink their plan when they know where you stand! I know you don't like this half as much as I do, Emet. I know you have doubts. We can still save our history, we can still do what is _right_."

"Leaving our people, our world to die is not right" he answered, cold, distant, turning back to face Azem, stare deep into their eyes. "The convocation knows exactly where I stand, because I stand with them. Through it all."

"In the end, you won't" they replied, angry, disappointed. They pulled their hands back and returned to the shadows, turning around to look out of the window into the town that was being slowly but surely rebuilt. "When you realize your plan is in vain... you will see what I see and you will crumble, mark my words. For then you will be Hades, and no longer Emet-Selch, and you will understand that what I do is for the good of all, and everything."

"If it makes you sleep better" Hades said, only to receiving a flame glance from his friend, the corner of their eyes burning with rage. "Now tell me, have you sided with the others? The ones that, like you, believe Zodiark to be too strong on his own?"

"They are just as much fools as the convocation" they replied, turning away again, crossing their arms. "They came to me seeking help, advice, union, but I told them the same I told you lot: that the summoning of a being that strong will only bring more destruction, more pain, more suffering. As you refused to listen, so did they, and now they gather in secret to plan their own plans against Zodiark. A problem of your own making, old friend."

"There would be no problem if they played their part-"

"There would be no part to play if the convocation had thought for a _second_ at the implication of its actions!" Azem cried out, losing their temper, finally. Hades looked away as they turned to face him once more, he knew they were right, the weight of the lives lost heavy on his shoulders. On all of their shoulders. "Don't you wonder, Emet, what could have happened had you and yours allowed nature to take its course?"

"It is pointless to wonder about such scenario now that all is set in motion" he replied, cold, distant. "If that is all you came to tell me – if you came to lecture me about my choices or persuade me to join your cause... you may as well leave at once."

"... we were once friends, you and I, a long time ago" they whispered after a moment of deep silence, their voice soft and calm. "Before we turned to our duties, before we became Emet-Selch and Azem. You used to listen to me, and you cared about life as much as death. We understood that it was something we would all reach someday, regardless of studies or magicks. And yet you grew old and you grew foolish. And perhaps not now, but eventually, someday, you will regret siding with them."

"We are _not_ villains" he groaned, between his teeth, because being accused like this was painful even to him, who had turned into a mask of his old self for the good of the world. It hurt, deep in his core, to see his best friend turn against him like this.

"It is what you tell yourselves. But remember that history is written by those who win it, and you might not" Azem said, and Hades growled to himself, turning to face them only to see no one there.

His eyes burnt with tears and he looked away, towards the city, the night sky shining with many stars. Their stars. Azem's. The constant reminder of the friend he once had.

But he knew... he was doing what was right.

\----------------------------------

_As he stared at them, eyes fixated on his own, shining bright with rage and power, he felt as if the last piece of the puzzle finally fit, and after thousand thousands of years awaiting for an answer to all his suffering, all his sadness and loneliness, he finally understood._

_Behind the Warrior's eyes, there was a pair of yellow irises that never stopped looking at him, in his dreams. Eyes that told a history that could never be forgotten._

_He failed them, but he would not fail again._

_"Remember us. Remember that we once lived" he whispered, in an attempt to reach those eyes behind countless sundering and lives relieved._

_For a moment, those eyes stared back at him._

_And he knew._

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
